Hopper, with valve closure having vibrator therein, for sand and other divided material



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 25, 1951 FOR SAND AND OTHER DIVIDED MATERIAL Filed Aug. 11, 1945 V, 5 NM My v v B 5 I 2:; 5 O 1 Q WM w%mwfll w a x N. & w zwr Q h F m a w rill A T TOR/YE)! Sept. 25, 1951 D. H. WOOD ETAL HOPPER, WITH VALVE CLOSURE HAVING VIBRATOR THEREIN, FOR SAND AND OTHER DIVIDED MATERIAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 11, 1945 INI/ENTORS A 7'TORNEV Sept. 25, D. WOOD ET AL 2,569,085

HOPPER, WITH VALVE CLOSURE HAVING VIBRATOR THEREIN, FOR SAND AND OTHER DIVIDED MATERIAL Filed Aug; 11, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 3' by MS. M

Patented Sept. 25, 1951 VI BRATOR THEREIN, F

'R SAND AND JOT-HERL DIVIDED MATERIAL DavidHow'ard Woo'd;Barnt Green, and Herbert James Roe, Knowle'," England Application .August. 311, 1945;1Serial No.:61 0;328 In GreatiBritain Augustl'l, 19,44

Claims. This invention relates ,to hoppers .ior sand and other. divided material such; for. example, as may be employed for supplying sand to, the distributing boxes ,or containers of core blowing machines whence itis discharged into a core box ormoulding box. Hoppers for use in charging, blast ,furnaces are usually provided with a conical closure and it has been proposed to mount the closure cone. by a universaljoint on,the end ,of. acranked lever. carried through an outwardly flared wall below the .cone.

. The present invention. comprises a. hopper .for receiving, and .dischargingnnely divided material such as sand having a discharge opening closed by a hollow cone, the hollow conical closure mem 1: 4

her housing within itself a means for vibrating it.

LIn a preferredembodiment the means for moving. thev closure member into and out. of closing position include a compressed. airncylinder and means, whereby compressed .air can be suppliedto the vibrator to vibrate theclosuremember when .it ..is in the open position and prevent any packing and bridging of "the materials.

.A preferred feature. is to employ a joint ring within .an annular groove. inthe wall fofthe. discharge opening, "offthe hopper, .WhiCh- W2,1I. is of .largerdiameter on the. underside .of the .ring so Anexample .of construction-embodying all the above-mentioned. features, and others included in the claims hereinafter appearing, is illustrated in the. accompanying drawings wherein asandhopper ionsupplying. bondedsand; to. a core blowing.

machine, is shown.

. Figurel is a verticalsection of thehopper with the conical .closure member closed-position. Figure 2 is a similar sectional view .with the closure member. inthe .open position.

Figure 3 is a, plan thereof. on a, reducedscale.

. Figure 41s a viewshowing. another shape of hopper.

"Fig." 5 is a sectional elevation, of the. ,closure member .Jof'Fig'l withthe vibrator inside it, the

section being taken through the, .axis of. the .cIOsuremember and. at rightangles to Fig. l, and (Fig. 6,.is alongitudinalsectionof the vibrator. The shapeof the hopper .10 may be modified ,to suit the particuIarcOnditions ofnuse. For ex- "*2 ample, .as .herelillustrated, .theremay; be, assurrounding, .sloping..wall l l l and one upright vwall .IZ; orathe walls may besloped from arectangular upper edge 13. In either case thewalls are car- .rieddownto a discharge opening 44 the,inner surfaceof which ispreferably circular. Aconvenient. arrangement is to cast. or. otherwiseform abottom structure I 5,-comprising, a vvertical;neck with .a;,flared.gupper :edge. lehaving a circular internal. surtace forming. the opening it, and; a suitablyshaped. outer surface to receive thebottom ofthe.-l-1 op.per walls which latter are secnred thereon by bolts 1 l or in, any. other suitable manner. Withintheinner-surface of theneckot the structure .I 5 is .cut an annular groove i8, in which is secured, such.as,.by. suitable adhesive, a joint ring .I 9,that;is preferablymade .of rubber or other durable flexible material. The circular wall sur- Iace is cut away to alarger diameter .atthepart forming the loweriwall of the groove 18 in order thatthe joint ring .1 9.clearly overhangs themetal around, this part while-beingsupported byv a metal .backi-ng around its upper: surface. Below the joint ring I9, the. wall of. thecast or other .structure l5is increased in diameter e. g.- by an. outwardlyinclined wall 20 terminating in an attachmentflangez By means oiithis flange thehopper structure may be secured uponlthe apparatus .to Whichthe sand or other divided material to be delivered such as on the'distributin'g box or a core blowing machine, the upper part of whichis indicated by the reference 22.

"Within the discharge opening "I4 :at'the bottom of the hopper i0, is arranged a conicalclosure member 23- the outer surface-of which can be brought into close, contact with the free overhanging edge of the joint ring 19- without contacting any portion ofthewall, in order to make ai tight-closure-of= the hopper. Theenlaige'd diameter ofthe surrounding wall 20 provides substantial clearance below the a joint ring for *the passage of sand or other finely divided material between thewall and" the closure member fi when thelatteris opened-tor discharge of theamateri-al from the hopper.

' Theiconical ,closure member 2 3: is secured upon the lower, externallyscrewed -end .24-' (;F?ig.;-' 5) of a tubular connecting rodp -z4, such as bv-the use of, clamping nutsaor rings- 25 and suitable packing. .W-herethe cone is truncated by adlatvtened. part 26 forithis purpose; it is preferred ;to provide a lightlgauge-cover, piece 21 inorder to preserve the conical shape and so. avoid a:;shelf or lodgement area-for the material. fllhe tubular ponnectionzis universally join-ted tat i281l30 apiston rod 29 of a cylinder 30 suitably mounted on the hopper such as by a support stirrup 31, bar, or other means. By this means the conical closure member is free to centre itself in the joint ring I9 of the discharge opening in the act of closing the hopper. A suitable lead is preferably made to each end of the cylinder 30, as at 32 and 33, so that fluid pressure, preferably compressed air, can be supplied to either face of the piston in the cylinder 30 to move the conical closure member to each of its positions at will. A suitable control (not shown) will be provided on the compressed air supply means for this purpose.

By making the connecting rod 24 as a tube, a supply of compressed air can be conducted through it, for example by a nipple 34 and flexible tube 35 capable of allowing free movement to the rod and its conical member 23. The flexible tube 35 may be connected to the supply lead 32 which goes to the upper end of the cylinder 30 so that when the closure member is opened, air may be supplied to the tubular connecting rod 24 and through a tubular connection 36 to any suitable form of vibrator represented at 31 which will transmit its vibrations to the conical closure member to facilitate the flow of material through the discharge opening l4 over the cone. Such vibrators operated by compressed air are well known on the market and may be of the type illustrated in Figs. and 6. This vibrator comprises a piston 42 loaded by a spring 43. The piston has three annular grooves 44, 45, 46 to which compressed air is admitted in succession through inlet ports 47, 48, 49 respectively as the piston is moved against the spring loading, the grooves being interconnected by a longitudinal port 50. The air is first admitted to groove 44 by inlet port 41 during the initial part of the movement; as the piston covers port 41 the port 48 is uncovered to admit further air by way of groove 45 and finally port 48 is closed and port 49 opens to admit still further air by groove 46. The air displaced from the end of the cylinder escapes by way of one of the outlet ports 5|, 52.

During the admission of compressed air, leakagepast the piston into the working space 53 at the closed end of the cylinder 54 will build up a pressure therein so long as the escape port 5| at that end remains covered, and the piston will move against the spring loading, whilst leakage to the other end of the cylinder will escape through the port 52 at that end until said port is covered. When the piston uncovers the port 5| at the working space end of the cylinder the spring comes into action to return the piston to its initial position. This cycle is again repeated so that the piston is reciprocated to impart lateral vibrations to the closure member in which it is secured. The escape ports register with perforations 55 in the base plate 38 of the closure member.

The base of the hollow cone 23 is preferably closed by a plate 38 provided with fine perforations 55 which will permit the air used for actuating the vibrator 31 to escape, but will exclude the sand or other material.

The universal connection of the tubular suspending rod 24 attached to the top of the conical discharge member 23 from the piston rod 29 of the air cylinder 30 is preferably made by means of a ball joint, the ball being mounted between two screwed cup members 39, 40 one attached to the piston rod 29 and the other screwed around it, and a lubricating nipple 4| may be provided by which lubricant can be conveyed to the bearing surfaces around the ball.

We claim;

1. A hopper for receiving finely divided material having a discharge opening in which a joint ring is secured, a closure member arranged to close against the joint ring, the said closure member being of hollow conical form and said closure member being secured upon a tubular connecting rod suspended by a universal joint on a piston rod of a power cylinder mounted above the hopper; a vibrating device arranged in said hollow closure member with a tubular connection between said device and the tubular connecting rod, and said tubular connecting rod having a flexible pipe connected with its interior and connected also with a fluid pressure supply means.

2. A hopper for receiving finely divided material having a discharge opening in which a joint ring is secured, a closure member arranged to close against the joint ring, the said closure member being of hollow conical form and said closure member being secured upon a tubular connecting rod suspended by a universal joint on a piston rod protruding from the lower end of a power cylinder mounted above the hopper and connecting with a compressed air pipe supplying compressed air to the other end of said cylinder; a vibrating device arranged in said hollow closure member with a tubular connection between said device and the tubular connecting rod, and said tubular connecting rod having a flexible pipe connected with its interior and connected also with said compressed air pipe. v

'3. A hopper for finely divided material comprising a container portion leading to a discharge opening, the said opening having a circular surrounding wall in which a continuous joint ring is secured in an annular groove, a hollow conical closure member for said opening capable of being moved into engagement with the joint ring and of being moved out of contact therewith at will, said hollow conical closure member having a flattened attachment portion at its upper end whereby it is clamped on to a connecting rod; a conical shroud member secured to the connecting rod above the flattened portion of the conical closure member so as to preserve the conical form of the latter on its surface which is in contact with the finely divided material; a vibrator mounted in said hollow closure member, a tubular connection to said vibrator which connection is arranged at the base of the connecting rod, said connecting rod also being tubular and having an inlet for compressed air which fluid is supplied through a flexible .pipe capable of accommodating the movement of said connecting rod; a ball joint between the upper end of the connecting rod and the lower end of a power cylinder in which the piston on said rod works and a compressed air lead to each end of the said cylinder, the compressed air lead to the upper end thereof having connected to it the flexible pipe leading to the tubular connecting rod of the closure member, whereby said closure member may be moved into closed and open positions at will and may be vibrated in the open position.

4. In combination, a hopper for receiving finely divided material, such as sand, and having an opening through which said material is discharged, a hollow conical closure member associated with said opening, a fluid pressure means including a piston rod for moving the closure member into its closing and open positions, a tubular connecting rod to which said closure member is attached, a universal joint connection between said piston rod and said connecting rod whereby th closure member is suspended from said joint, a fluid operated vibrator housed within and adapted to vibrate the closure member when the latter is unseated from said opening, a conduit between said tubular connecting rod and said vibrator, means for supplying fluid under pressure to said fluid pressure means ,so as to cause it to move the closure member into its open position, and a flexible tubular connection between said pressure fluid supply means and said tubular connecting rod for supplying working fluid under pressure to the vibrator in the closure member.

5. A hopper for receiving finely divided material having a discharge bottom opening, a hollow conical closure member associated with said opening, a vibrator secured to said closure member interiorly of the latter and operative by a power fluid to vibrate said member, an element movable in a vertical direction and operative by the same kind of power fluid as said vibrator,

and a universal joint connecting said closure member to said element, means to admit power fluid to said element to move the latter with said closure member so as to close said opening, and means to admit power fluidto said element to move the latter and said member so as to free said opening, and simultaneously to admit power fluid to said vibrator so as to vibrate said member.

DAVID HOWARD WOOD.

HERBERT JAMES ROE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

